connected to the central heating or not?

samm001

Hi there

I have recently sold my flat, which had gas central heating. We also had an open fake coal gas fire with real flames in the living area. When we bought the flat we were advised that the chimney was closed off and couldnt be treated as a real fire place.

With no problems in the 12 years of residing there we just moved on, but have now received a letter from the buyers solicitor saying that the gas fire is bad condition and dangerous. We are shocked to hear this as we used the gas fire all the time with no problems. As far as i know there is no back boiler, so that does that mean the open gas fire isn't linked to the central heating? There is a boiler in our cellar but thats all i know.

The buyer is expecting us to pay for the repair to the open fire stating it is part of the central heating.

Can anyone help?

Thanks

Sam

Ken68

Hi Sam, not sure, but think a gas fire should have seperate ventilation, not only from the chimney, a point which the solicitor would have raised with the buyer at an early stage of the purchase.

silvercar

The question to ask is does it come on according to the central heating timer or does it come on when you switch it on.

If the former then it is not part of the central heating system and is auxillary heating - the key word is "central".

I would guess your buyers are just trying it on. we had a problem with no hot water in a bathroom and our solicitor said it wasn't worth persuing.

justtoclarify_2

Whether or not the buyers of your property can ask you to carry out repairs to the gas fire depends at what stage you are at in the selling process and what if any statements you did or did not make about the condition of the fire.

First off, if the buyer did a survey and the surveyor recommended that they get the central heating and or gas fire inspected before proceeding or check on its condition (review service history etc) and they did not. Provided that you have not claimed that all was in perfect working order and you have completed the sale, I would be suprised if they had any financial claim on you.

If you have not completed on the sale, then they can request that you carry out repairs or reduce the price to reflect the expected cost of the works. In this situation the buyer has bargaining power and in the interests of completing the sale you may need to compromise.

If you have completed, then check what you declared in the questions asked by your or their solictor during the sale process. If they specifically asked about the condition of the fire and you indicated anything about its condition such as good or working rather than Unknown, they may have some comeback. If however you had the fire checked within the last 12 months for safety then you could argue that to the best of your knowledge as per the last safety check the fire was safe. However if you did answer a question specifically on the condition fire and did not limit its scope to "safety check on...." for example this may be why their solictor has sent the letter on their behalf.

I believe you can have standalone gas fires with a balanced flue, so no need for a working chimmney. In which case additional ventilation may not be required. But the rules for gas ventilation have changed over the last decade, so what would have been acceptable 12 years ago may not be now. A gas engineer inspecting now would use current regulations except where specific exemptions are allowed. Hence the reported failure now after your use of the fire for the last 12 years with no problems.

If you have completed the sale then if you made no claims about the condition of the fire and/or central heating system you could also indicate that the buyer had ample opportunity to inspect the heating system and fire prior to purchase if they had any queries about its operational status and as such it is unclear why this letter has been sent. They may already have been told that there is no legal claim, but they could try a letter and see what happens hoping that you would pay for the repairs as a goodwill gesture.